Thursday, May 28, 2015

The Other Side of the Wall

While most of us would prefer not to discuss the matter, I have been wrestling with it for several years. You may not want to read on and that is your choice of course. But I am here to suggest that sooner or later, the matter will matter - to you or others that are near and dear to you.

I was "encouraged" to pen my thoughts when an article appeared on my computer this morning. The title informed its readers that -"Yes, transgender really is the New Black in Hollywood." The author's name is Jennifer LeClaire and she is writing for Charisma News.

The headline provides the name of Laverne Cox who has been described as "the first breakthrough transgender star in Hollywood." A year ago, she was on the cover of TIME magazine. Those who make their living "in Hollywood" appear are ready and willing to promote this tragedy throughout the nation.

You probably already know that Bruce Jenner, the high acclaimed athlete from the Olympics is ready to convert himself to the woman, he claims to have hidden away for years. ABC Family has a new program ready for broadcast entitled Becoming Us, the story of a boy "working" through his father's transition from male to female. TLC has another such program in the works.

LeClaire goes on to suggest, "this is not just an issue in Hollywood, the agenda is creeping into other aspects of society."

I will never forget my introduction into such so-called "hidden" issues of life. AS a Personnel Supervisor in the USAF, three senior Non-coms on our base came to me asking if I could keep a secret and revealed to me that they were practicing homosexuals. They feared that if a certain officer whose office was next to mine in our headquarters, heard that they were, he could press charges and they would be immediately discharged and lose the benefits they had earned by their years of service. They had learned that the Colonel and I appeared to be friends and all they wanted was a "heads up" if he prepared to press charges. That never happened, but the Sergeants and I became good friends and I never became aware of their deviant behavior. What happened after they closed their doors was their affair and meant nothing to me.

Years later, I was a volunteer in the church I attended and was asked to attend a "confidential" meeting. It concerned an assistant Pastor who had just married the daughter of important members. The bride came home from the honeymoon early claiming her husband was "gay". What to do? What to do? The best we could recommend was endorse the Senior Pastor's recommendation to fire the man. I was the only minority voice in the decision. So, they did. A few month's later, the young man came to my office looking for a job. We had an honest conversation about the other incident and I learned that he was not gay, but not as well "endowed" as the bride thought he might be. Her frustration made matters worse. I found him a job with a religious printing house and eventually was invited to dinner with his new bride and it was apparent to me, any problems in that area had been resolved.

That prompted me to research the question of homosexuality and discovered there were far more areas of confusion than I had ever imagined. It gave me a sense of compassion for the others who had problems like my young friend. The one advantage of being in the military is the fact we showered together and could talk about sexual topics without "beating around the bush" as some suggest. And as the years passed, the general public became far more aware of similar topics.

Of course, the "Aids" problems arose and as a Christian, I became acquainted with many of those who had been infected. In fact, a former employer was infected and would die and my "research" into the question of homosexuality became a matter of my belief system. It was easy to recognize the facts that religion had begun to play an important tole in the debates. I have heard more debates on the subject than I even care to discuss.

My conclusion is that those who profess to being "gay" are typically, those who fear the label of being a homosexual. No one cares to be known by a derogatory title. The Bible does not send a mixed message. The act is wrong. The actor is loved by God - as are all others.

Not unlike the child who is reared in a household where poverty is not a word to be discussed, but a fact of life, and as he - or she, can see what the parent does to provide, is it any wonder that they visit the sins of those who came before them? And if the parent is perceived to be inadequate to the task of feeding them, for example, is it any wonder that they follow in the footsteps of those who do provide. I have - in my lifetime, interviewed probably hundreds of them and often became friends of youngsters who followed that pattern I just set forth. All the while, they have been raised in a society where even the rich and powerful have a need to have a gun to protect themselves, their families and their property, We really should begin to understand that such logic enables the poor and disenfranchised to make a similar claim - only, of course, once they use it for their need to provide, it is that much easier to extend it to provide their "wants" as well.

I did not digress, I was merely setting the stage for the logic to follow. Do you deny that we live in a sex-crazed society? Hopefully, you recognize that fact. Now, lets go back to the home, any home and consider the youngsters and their parents. I grew up in the 30's and you need to believe that - with few if any exceptions, we knew nothing about sex. But as we grew up and attended high school, we began to hear more about it, but learn about it, no way. There were no objective teachers. I had heard about it, but my learning came in the midst of 1,700 other teenagers, all wearing a uniform and headed for overseas duty. We had our first objective lesson when we reached our assignment and noticed a hole in the fence and a path leading to a nearby brothel. We also had our first practical lesson on sex when the offers and senior non-coms had a "drop your pants and standby" drill. (If you don't know what I mean, you don't need to know.)

That was then, this is now and we are reaping where we failed to sow decades ago. Sin not a pleasure game where one gets satisfied and the other goes home. Sexual relations were not designed to be a sporting event, but the most important spiritual lesson of all. Babies were meant to be the result, but humans being humans, long ago discovered that the act did not need to be spiritual, it could be pleasurable as well. And there it is in a nutshell.

Enter perversion, if pleasure is the reasonable excuse for sex, what does it matter where we find a partner? And the participants made homosexuality, the perfect alternative.

But that is a sin! And so, since God is opposed to sinful behavior, the righteous among us began waging war on the sins of those others. Never mind the obvious sins of the righteous. Some called a halt to such a war and Satan and his legions have won victories upon victories by merely suggesting there is a hierarchy of sin.

Now, does anyone really wonder that evil would eventually discover the transgenders among us. There are, in fact, people who came into this world with sexual organs that do not conform to what we might suggest are normal. It happens. There are also many medical experts who have a solution, but again, if you happen to have it happen to you, pray that you were not born into poverty.

Now should we wonder that they are the Bruce Jenners who would have us believe, we are all born with a degree of abnormality, especially if you can make money displaying your own particular degree of abnormality. Let's face facts, deviants tend to enjoy their deviancy.

All of which ignore the basic premise of the scriptures. We are created beings, all of us, and among us are others who were not as fortunate as we have discovered ourselves to be. What do we do for the poor and impoverished? The very same as we should be doing for those who are not as privileged as we find ourselves to be in all areas of our lives. Compassion is an act highly commended by God.

For certain, we must not allow ourselves to be intrigued by such matters, but wherever possible do what we can to portray the compassionate others whose first order of the day is to love one another as we have been loved.

Oh, you thought I might talk about same-sex marriage. If you can find it in the Bible I am here to talk about it. Otherwise, take your complaints to the politicians who showered the "legally" married folks with benefits not available to the rest of us. Can you see the real problem?